UCWDC Newsletter Line Dance Spring 2021
Greetings fellow line dancers, hoping that everyone is healthy, looking forward to the return of events and seeing our dance family! The past year has been so difficult for all of us and dancing has certainly suffered, our last event was now over a year ago at the Tulip Challenge. This year as vaccines are being distributed there is hope that we may soon see each other again.
Whilst some USA events are able to hold in person competitions, all events in Europe and Asia have been cancelled up to July. South Africa has held its first non-sanctioned virtual event and in April the MidAtlantic Dance Classic will hold the first sanctioned UCWDC virtual event and there will be line dancers from all over the world competing.
Whilst events past September are still uncertain, the UCWDC is working on many new online activities including an online workshop series and other events are actively preparing for virtual possibilities to keep us all active and engaged.
With the continuing uncertainty, the line dance committee has been discussing our classic dances and showcase music. We feel that as no one has had the opportunity to compete the classic dances for a full season, nor the new showcase music, we should not change them until a full season has occurred. It is important to us that we get your feedback on this issue and will be sending out a short survey to get all line dancer’s opinions.
We have been spending the past year in the Judge Certification committee working on updating the line dance judge curriculum and examinations and these will be rolled out soon. Another exciting project is from the Education Committee who have been working on developing a line dance syllabus and but can also result in a teacher certification. The dances covered in the syllabus have been expanded and there will be videos and manuals produced to aid in the education of them. As you can imagine, this is a huge project and will take a little more time before being unveiled. We will keep you informed of our progress!
You will have noticed that the format of the classic line page has changed, enabling you to download all your division’s music, step sheets and videos in one click. Whilst this is a much-welcomed change, we also know that we need the ability to just download a step sheet or video quickly, so we are working on adding this to the page again.
Finally, just to make sure everyone is aware, last year all classic Cuban dances had their BPM lowered and new edits were uploaded to the UCWDC webpage, so if you haven’t already, please make sure that you download the new edits. There has been one adjustment to the Novice Stage, the restart should happen after 32 counts ON the 3rd wall, not after. The step sheet will be changed and uploaded to the website shortly.
As always, I am available should you have any questions, concerns or feedback via email at linedance@ucwdc.org.
Kind Regards,
UNITED COUNTRY WESTERN DANCE COUNCIL
Clive Eaton-Stevens
UCWDC Line Dance Committee Chair
w: www.ucwdc.org p: +44 7742.428872 e: linedance@ucwdc.org 04.02.2021